Thoughts and Rambles: A Thank You

There is an old Sufi story, maybe its told by al-Aqta or Attar, not sure which one (or someone completely different).  This Sufi Sheykh meets God.  God agrees to grant him a wish.  The Sheykh asks that he touch the lives of people he meets in a positive way without the Sheykh knowing.  God grants him this wish.  Then afterwards God likes it so much he grants that power to the whole planet.

***

This August is a series of anniversaries for me:

It is my 4th Anniversary of quitting smoking; and,
The blog celebrates it's 6th anniversary.

Perhaps greater to me is the 5th Anniversary of my personal rebirth.  August 2009, I returned from my trip solo across the Balkans.  I returned from that 4 month adventure a changed person.  And through that commitment to change, I did so further.  Each step has made me better person and made my life more full and complete.

But I didn't do this alone.  Many people helped along the way.  Maybe like the Sheykh, they don't know what they've done.

With the below, I want to share my journey and thank all of those who have touched me.

2009

I traveled Greece, including getting my certificate to teach English.

Athens

Mycenae: Lea, Marilyn, Simone, Kelly and I at the Treasury of Atreus

Mycenae

Olympia: sprinting the track

TEFL Corinth: Kelly, Marilyn, Lea, Simone, me, Kelly, Jim

Afterwards, I went to Kefalonia to work with sea turtles and another great group who touched me in ways they might not have known.

Cannonball into the Ionian Sea.

Climbing Mt. Ainos: Ariel, me and Damo

Team Turtle: me, Cecilia, Ian, Florian, Lilly, Ariel, Mia, Damo, Ellly

Croatia

Atop Baske Ostarije, 1000m climb over 12km - took em three hours

Bungee Jumping, Sibenick Bridge

Jesse Bear @ Krka National Park

Convenient Sign

Plitvicka Jezeera National Park

Saying goodbye to Schwarzfahrer, at some random bike shop in Zagreb
(got 600 kuna for the bike)

Dimitrovgrad, Serbia - where I got kicked off the train without a passport (and Jesse Bear was stolen)

Hiking Liechtenstein! a lifelong dream

Hiking the less exotic Catskills, 2009:
Andrew, Carl, Nellie, Jeremy, Tiffany, Seth and Jess

2010


2010, was a bit of a tough year for me. I was going through some rebirth pains.  There are very few pictures from this year. Eventually, I came out on the other side.  While, I don't have any photos of them, Dave and Glenn were fantastic people I leaned on during this time and year.

Urvi and I handing off in the 26x1 relay

2011

White House after my second marathon and a fantastic weekend with my Cousin

Climbing Champlain Mtn - Scott, Evan, Sarah, Sara

Kelsea and I after the 2011 MDI Relay

Mill Cities Relay - Kings of Beer: Aaron, Dan, me, Marc and Seth

2012

New Years 2012, Polar plunge after the Hangover 10K:
I'm mid dive, Robert and Anthony are about to dive; Sara and Bradley 

Trampoline Dodgeball: Amy, Kate, Paul, Kimi, Ann, Seth, Sarah, Laurie, Dan, Paul, Ali, Sara, Marc, Korynn

After Providence Marathon: Ann, Jim, Sarah, Korynn, Seth, Dan and me

Iceland 2012: Seth, Andy, Brian, me, Sara, Korynn, Victor, Aharon and Liz

Aaron, me and Brian at Skaftafell, Southeast Iceland

At Skogarfoss: Merissa, Brian, me, Sara, Korynn, Victor, Seth, Sarah, Amie and Aharon

At the Start of the Reykjavik Marathon, 2012

At Thakgil, Iceland: Mariah, Brian, Harrison, Korynn, Sara, Weth, Aharon, me, Amie, Liz, Laurie and Victor

Urvi and I on Pete's Hill, Arbs during Hub on Wheels

2013

Blizzard Run with Bradley

Ruthanne, Kate, Urvi and I, 2013 Boston Marathon right before we found out

Corey right before our doomed century ride

Pineland Farms Trail Series, 2013:
Brian, Jake, Karen, Sara, Aaron, Scot, Tim, anthony, Merisa, Brian, me, Diona
Carrie-Anne, Andy, HB, Mariah, Urvi and Erin

me, Urvi and Paul after the Pittsburgh (half) Marathon

Urvi and I at the Colosseum 

Urvi and I at Trevi Fountain

Hiking the Whites: Jess, Andrew, Andy, Emma and I

Lake Winni Relay: Dan, John, Marc, Tim, Steve, Aaron, Seth and I

Reach the Beach:
Scott, Jim, me, Steve, John, Matt, Megan, Jason, Korynn, Deb, Freddi and Emma

Deb getting her sock darned, Man City Marathon

Finishing the Man City Marathon

Meeting a member of the CIM board:
Urvi, me, Tim, Aaron, Kate, Brian, Laurie and Erin

Urvi and I in Sacramento after the California International Marathon

2014

Long Jump - Pentathlon

On the 300K

Novare Res after the Beach to Beacon:
me, Urvi, Eva, Matt, Julie and Scott

One from the Vault:

That time our Christmas Card was graffiti, Boston, 1992

Of course, I can't forget my parents.

I just wanted to thank everyone for sharing and helping my journey, especially those who may not know they have the gift to be a positive influence...

Thanks,

Jesse...

Monkey off My Back: 2013 Year in Review

Urvi and I with our CIM medals
photo by Mauricio Salmon

“You’ve got to get off my back” 

~ Flava Flav

“I passed the 26 mile mark as it the clock flipped to 3:12:00.  I was going to make it.  I was going to PR and BQ!  Tears started welling up in my eyes; I had to be shown how to get through the cones because I could barely see...” ~From “StripedSocks, Red Sox and Darned Sox”

2012 had been a great season for me.  I had finally recovered from 18 years of smoking – wow when you say it like that. And as I reported at the end of 2012 – “2 and a half years of work finally placed me back in the ranks of ‘athlete.’” But there was one thing missing.

“The monkey ain’t no joke” 

~Flava Flav

I started out 2013 with a single minded 4 month goal.  Cinco de Mayo was circled on my calendar.  The Pittsburgh Marathon is where I would get the Boston qualifying monkey off my back.  Those four months, I did run races but they were neither goals nor targets.  They were merely means to an end.

I was happy and comforted to realize that while training through both Derry and Martha’s Vineyard – I did nearly as well the year before.  Then at New Bedford, the gang all put up amazing PRs. I did not but once again had trained through it and still improved from New Bedford 2012 (plus my half PR from Great Bay 2012 was a perfect storm of fitness, weather and rest).

Seth and I getting ready for Pittsburgh

“He's home grown, he's the cyclone

He's the moan groan, capon, the clone” 

~ Flava Flav

The single minded goal – Pittsburgh Marathon – finally came.  Dan and I were putting in even pace from 1 until mile 7.  At mile 7, I tried to step over a median and BAM, twisted my ankle.

I knew my race was over.  But, I didn’t want to admit it.  So on one of my worst twisted ankles ever (and, I’ve had a lot), I presumed to run two more miles at goal marathon pace.  “At mile 9, I knew even the charade was over.”

I had been ready and with one slip of the foot, 1000 miles and 5 months of training just went out the door.  Limping in to finish my worst half marathon ever, I thought I might be jinxed.  Now that monkey had grown, he’s the cyclone.

RaceMenu Summer Series Start - I'm "hiding" in the third row

“We got the real Flava Flav

Gettin' down with the sound

And he's tellin' you to get off his back” 

~ Flava Flav

I stepped back from the marathon for the summer (despite the exhortations of Tommy and Anthony to run Quebec).  While I didn’t end up cycling much, I ran shorter races.  I moved in with Urvi (I have a life outside of running).

The big “goal” of the Summer was the Race Menu series. Like Gordon had argued: if for nothing else than something to keep looking toward to stay in basic shape.

I won my age-group in the Series – with a cotton T-shirt to show for it.  And my summer finished up with running Reach the Beach for the first time with the fantastic Fighting Guppies team.

Fighting Guppies - reach the beach

“As-salam alaykum

And that's the way we take 'em

And if we got to frisk you down

Then that's the way we shake 'em” 

~ Flava Flav

Labor Day relaunched my singular goal.  14 weeks to BQ at CIM.  With a couple of minor (to me) Cross-Country races and two training races, my fall was lighter than the summer.  A Personal Record at the Nahant 30K gave me confidence if not comfort that I was on track.

Manchester was going to be a training race.  In fact with 58 miles from Monday to Saturday, I was uncertain I was going to be able to hit training paces.  But, one mile led to another and then a few miles with Karen and then:

“I came across fist pumping at gun time 3:13:48 and chip time 3:13:40 - 28 second PR and BQ minus 1:20! Robert quoted me from mile 13.5: "yeah 'I'm going to slow down at mile 16.'”

Finishing Manchester City
best photo ever?

"Get off my back" 

~ Flava Flav

Oddly, this left me with five weeks until my “real” marathon.  I had told everyone that I was still going to run for 3:10.  (Also, I wanted to try to beat Dan’s PR and his time for running two marathons in 5 weeks.)  The first 13 at California International with Tim were great.  Unfortunately, I was unable to keep it up for the second half.  However, I did still beat my Manchester time for 2 Personal Records in the marathon in 36 days.

Personal Records (and time faster than pre-2013):

4 Mile - Gobble^3, 25:36 – 0:20 PR

7k - Run the Goose, 29:35 - 0:02 PR

30K – Nahant 30K, 2:18:55 – 7:36 PR

Marathon – California International Marathon - 3:13:31 – 0:38 PR

High Category Finishes: 

Casey’s (Jan) – 1st, overall

Super 5k (Feb) – 3rd, Linebackers

Martha's Vineyard 20 Miler (Feb) – 2nd, Clydesdales

Malden Rotary 5k (Mar) – 1st, Age Group

USATF-NE Master’s Shotput(Jun) – 1st, Age-group

4K on the Fourth (Jul) – 1st, Age-group

Jim Kane 5k (Jul) – 1st, Heavyweights

Race Menu Summer Series (May-Sept) – 1st, Age group

Manchester City Marathon (Nov) – 4th, USATF age group

Yulefest (Dec) – 2nd, Masters

California International Marathon (Dec) – 3rd, Clydesdales